Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 515: 330. The Hunt and the Prey

Countdown 136:30:00.

Half past eight in the morning.

There were many people at Quanshun Plaza, all here for Jindai Kongyin.

In the crowd, Kyushu Tang Keke looked at Lu Yuan, who had infiltrated the scene, and said with a smile, “Quite a few people from Kunlun have come, haven’t they?”

Lu Yuan wore a camera around his neck, seemingly disguised as a reporter.

He said expressionlessly, “Kyushu has quite a few people as well, all familiar faces. Speaking of which, if Kyushu is planning something, the least you could do is give us a heads-up. What’s with these sudden attacks?”

Tang Keke chuckled, “We both know the situation is urgent. Without some special tactics to draw out clues, if Jindai and Deer Island’s reverse time travel plans succeed, the Inner World’s Federation civil war might hit the Li Family hard. Special times call for special measures. Please excuse us on Kunlun’s part.”

“We have the same goals, it’s just that Kyushu’s approach isn’t very appealing,” Lu Yuan said, twisting his lips.

Actually, Jindai Kongyin wasn’t very popular domestically, as she was a niche art goddess, and many people hadn’t even heard of her.

It was a Monday workday today, so logically there shouldn’t have been so many people.

Moreover, Kyushu had chosen Monday because they were worried that too many passersby looking for entertainment might show up.

However, at that moment, a few hundred people were gathered in front of the press conference stage at Quanshun Plaza, appearing very lively.

In fact, at least 80% of those few hundred people were from Kyushu and Kunlun; there were hardly any genuine onlookers.

Next to He Jinqiu and Lu Yuan, two old ladies who were stirring up excitement but unaware of the truth spoke, “Who is that star? Jindai Kongyin? I’ve never heard that name before.”

“I haven’t heard of her either.”

“Then why are there so many people at her press conference?” one of the old ladies wondered.

“These days, celebrities popularize hiring ‘shills.’ Haven’t you seen on TikTok? 18th-tier celebrities with no fame who have more bodyguards than fans. These people must be shills!” another old lady glanced at Lu Yuan and the others chatting leisurely.

Lu Yuan: “…”

Tang Keke: “…”

At that moment, Lu Yuan moved away from the old ladies and then asked Tang Keke, “Using Jindai Kongyin as bait, isn’t it a bit too obvious? The Jindai family controls Time Travelers and they’re not fools. Why would they come out in broad daylight to kill her?”

“Because Jindai Kongyin is a Cultivator, and she carries the Jindai family’s ancestral first half of the cultivation method,” Tang Keke glanced at Lu Yuan. “Moreover, although she is on the fringe within the family, she knows many secrets about the Jindai family. If you were them, you’d want to kill her too. Besides, the Jindai and Deer Island families aren’t known for their political acumen; they prefer assassinations.”

Lu Yuan paused, “The authentic method of cultivation?”

“Yes,” Tang Keke nodded.

“With just the first half, what level could one reach?” Lu Yuan asked.

“B-Class,” Tang Keke said.

Now Lu Yuan understood. Such important information was indeed worth the Jindai family’s major effort.

The authentic cultivation method was a threshold between B-Class and A-Class, and reaching A-Class was difficult for everyone, seemingly the true initiation into preeminence and transcendence.

But for most people and most organizations, having a method that could cultivate up to B-Class was sufficient, as it would mean that they wouldn’t need to rely entirely on genetic potions.

This was also the reason why Lu Yuan had gone to visit Qing Chen the previous day.

Kunlun needed the cultivation method.

Lu Yuan looked at Tang Keke, casually asked, “Would Jindai Kongyin hand over the method of cultivation to Kyushu?”

Tang Keke said with a smile, “Guess.”

…

…

Only 15 minutes left until the press conference started.

1600 meters across from Quanshun Plaza, outside the Borui Building, a young man carrying a large toolbox and wearing a cap was dressed in a central air-conditioning repair uniform, heading inside.

The uniform was unlike ordinary ones, with tightened cuffs and a more professional look, resembling military training attire.

The building’s security guard glanced at him, “Coming to repair the central air conditioning?”

The young man nodded, “Yes, your building management sent me, said there’s a problem with the 17th floor’s central air conditioning.”

The guard was puzzled for a moment, “Hold on a second while I check the memo.”

As he said this, he went to look through the building’s appointment records, and there was indeed a note about air conditioning repair.

The guard handed a “work badge” to the young man, “Hang this around your neck so you don’t lose it, and you’ll need to return it to me when you leave.”

“Alright, thank you,” the young man said as he walked toward the elevator and pressed the button for the 17th floor.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, several people shouted outside, “Wait a second.”

The young man ignored them and pressed the close button more urgently.

As the elevator ascended, he could still hear someone complain outside, “What kind of people are these, he’s the only one in the elevator and he couldn’t wait for us? Forget it, let’s wait for the next one.”

The youth waited as the elevator slowly ascended and spoke into his Bluetooth headset, “I’m almost in position, how are things on your end?”

A voice from the headset responded, “Already in position.”

“Already in position.”

“In position, the news conference is about to start. The host is warming up the audience, I can see Jindai Kongyin backstage, makeup done and ready to go on stage, but it’s a bit odd here, the atmosphere is really tepid.”

The youth chuckled, “Can it not be tepid? The audience in front of the stage is all from Kyushu and Kunlun; there are at most twenty or thirty fans.”

The elevator reached the 17th floor.

Familiar with the terrain as if he had already memorized it, the youth sauntered into an empty conference room.

He opened the window of the conference room, which perfectly overlooked the entire Quanshun Plaza.

This place was opposite Quanshun Plaza, the only building that could serve as a sniper’s post. Although it was a bit far from the plaza, at a distance of 1600 meters, for Qing Chen, it was merely ‘easy’ difficulty.

Quanshun Plaza covered a large area, directly across from a squarely man-made Kaiyuan Lake.

Kaiyuan Lake wasn’t large, installed within it was once the largest musical fountain in Asia.

The musical fountain only operated once a week on Saturday nights, so many residents of Los Angeles City liked to gather here on Saturday nights with their children to watch the fountain.

However, the musical fountain was quiet at the moment, showing no signs of activity.

At this very moment, the host on the news conference stage seemed to be facing his own personal Waterloo.

No matter how he tried to warm up the crowd, told jokes, and built the atmosphere, the audience simply watched him calmly.

They occasionally looked around.

No one laughed, no one listened carefully to what he was saying.

You should know, this host was a famous one invited from a certain satellite TV station, and his appearance fee alone was 200,000.

Frankly, the host felt it was odd when he arrived.

Normally, press conferences would be held indoors, inviting a bunch of media reporters, with a flurry of camera flashes going off.

However, here the media reporters one by one had their cameras hanging around their necks, seemingly with no intention of taking photos.

What he didn’t know was that among the more than twenty journalists at the conference, only four or five were real reporters; the rest were all impersonators from Kyushu and Kunlun.

Moreover, even if it was an event, other than grand openings, they usually took place in the afternoon or evening when more people were available. But strangely, the organizers insisted on having it early in the morning this time.

The famous host, seeing only a sparse few hundred people in the plaza in front of him, suddenly felt a sense of defeat.

This was probably the strangest press conference he had ever attended.

In fact, the reason Kyushu had invited him was also to boost Jindai Kongyin’s ‘prestige.’ Even though it was merely a hunting operation, Jindai Kongyin was truly making a comeback, so the news conference couldn’t be too shabby.

At least, when this news spread online, it would still have the prestige elevated by this famous host.

In the crowd, Tang Keke suddenly felt something was off and said on the communication channel, “Everyone, sync up and laugh a bit; don’t be too tepid, let’s make this place seem lively.”

Just then, seeing that the venue still wasn’t warming up, the famous host straightforwardly said, “It seems everyone is here for Jindai Kongyin, already unable to wait to see her, so…”

“Hahaha.”

“Hahaha.”

Seeing the audience’s stiff, forced laughter, the famous host immediately collapsed.

Are you slow to react? I told those jokes ten minutes ago, and you are laughing now?

However, by this time Tang Keke had already sensed something was wrong and said on the communication channel, “Boss, so far, not a single assassin from the Jindai family has shown up. Could it be that the other party has backed down?”

A voice from He Jinqiu rang out on the communication channel, “Are there any abnormalities in the nearby buildings?”

“No,” Tang Keke replied, “There are no suspicious individuals in any of our surveilled areas, all sniper points are clear.”

“Are there any other sniper spots?”

“No, beyond that is only the Borui Building 1600 meters away. But such a distance would require the use of anti-material rifles to ensure effective range, and those things have barrels over a meter long, it’s simply impossible to bring them in,” Tang Keke said. “Unless the boss of Daylight was hired by the Jindai, and then personally took action.”

Lu Yuan looked at Tang Keke, “Daylight’s boss wouldn’t be hired by Jindai, as everyone now knows he has a grudge against Jindai, and he just foiled Jindai Tongwu’s plan.”

He Jinqiu fell into thought, “Perhaps, they’re not here for us today.”

Inside the 17th floor of the Borui Building, the youth Qing Chen set a toolbox aside and quietly watched Quanshun Plaza.

His exceptional hearing had already picked up the sound of several people’s footsteps in the corridor outside the conference room.

It was as if there were traces of murderous intent.

Clothed in a central air conditioning repair uniform, Qing Chen continued to look out the window and said over the communication channel, “It seems, in the eyes of the Jindai family, our enmity is considered higher than Jindai Kongyin’s.”

…

My throat is inflamed and I’ve got a bit of cold today, only wrote 8000 words, taking a day off.